8 Things I Learned this Fall

Life is learning. Learning is life. Here are a few new things I encountered in the last few months — the silly, the serious, and everything in between.

Present Over Perfect served as a Pilgrim at Tinker Creek for my soul, an invitation into “… the sacred risky act of being exactly who you are — nothing more nothing less.” I took pages of notes and plan to re-read it next fall as a marker to see if I’ve grown a little more present, a little less anxious.

Over Thanksgiving break, I took my boys to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, an “immersive art experience… a unique combination of children’s museum, art gallery, jungle gym, and fantasy novel” set up in an abandoned bowling alley. There’s a kind of “don’t talk about it, you have to experience it for yourself” vibe around the place, so much so that before we got there, the boys and I discussed what we’d heard about the refrigerator inside. All we knew was you could walk through it. There’s a story to discover and explore — kind of like a mystery to solve, but one that’s open-ended. If you go, be sure to check out the mailbox, read the newspaper in the kitchen, and look in the toilet on the second floor (!). Oh, and find Emerson’s will in the study nook. I just discovered this fun website connected to the story. Santa Fe artists, you are one of a kind.

I think too much. My personality type describes it as “the relentless tug of self-absorption.” When applied to my writing, it freezes me. Thanks to Valerie Geary (who’s always teaching me something) for encouraging me to set my thoughts aside and get to work.

We had a very dry, very hot summer. Seeing little blades of grass sprout on our lawn’s burned patches makes me over-the-top happy, like a proud mama-gardener-farmer.

I’ve never understood the idiom “whole cloth,” but after encountering it a couple times this fall, I figured it was time to finally look it up. It means “A complete fabrication. A lie with no basis in the truth.”

I’ll bet you learned more than most people do in one season. Fascinated by Meow Wolf. I hadn’t heard of it. But your turkey recipe is close to mine. I never truss a turkey. However, I do stuff it because, ahem, certain people in our family prefer their stuffing cooked that way (not me!).

I’ve learned that if I spend too much time reading on a screen I get headaches and that I feel better if I get outside for at least an hour a day. I’ve also learned not to pay attention to fake news. 🙂